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Social Psychological Principles Observed in the Disney Adaptation of Hercules

Lindsay Underhill

University of Mount Olive

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The story of Hercules is one of the better-known stories in Greek mythology, and many

movies have been made about the legend including a Disney film. Of course, the actual legend is

not as rosy as the Disney production paints it. In the legend, Hercules was born out of rape and

was hated by his stepmother Hera. Hera casted a spell on him, causing him to murder his wife

and children. After he realizes what he has done, he falls into deep depression and becomes

suicidal. (Mark, 2014) While the legend from Greek mythology would certainly produce a

lengthier and possibly more interesting psychological analysis, I am thankful that I am reviewing

the heavily edited Disney version.

The story begins on Mount Olympus, where Greek gods Zeus and Hera give birth to a

son and name him Hercules. The gods celebrate his birth- except for Hades, the god of the

underworld, who envies Zeus and his power. In a meeting with the Fates- Past, Present, and

Future- Hades learns that 18 years in the future, the planets will align and allow him to release

the Titans, evil monsters who will help him to defeat Zeus and take over Mount Olympus. But

there is a catch- if Hercules intervenes, then Hades’ plan will fail. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

Hades hatches a plan to make sure that Hercules will not be of concern. He sends his

minions, Pain and Panic, to steal young Hercules, feed him a potion that turns him mortal, and

kill him. Pain and Panic do manage to steal Hercules away from Mount Olympus, but while

feeding Hercules the potion, they are startled by the farmer Amphitryon and his wife Alcemene.

The couple picks up baby Hercules, who drank all but the last drop of the potion. Hercules was

no longer a god, but because he did not drink the last drop, he was able to retain his God-like

strength. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

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Pain and Panic realize that they have failed to carry out Hades’ plan but resolve to keep

this a secret as not to anger Hades. Zeus and Hera are stricken with grief when they find that

Hercules has been stolen and cannot return to Olympus, as he has been stripped of his

immortality and is no longer a god. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

For years, Amphitryon and Alcemene raise Hercules as their own and love him deeply,

but his superhuman strength sometimes gets him into trouble. One day while in town with

Amphitryon, Hercules accidentally knocks down the entire trading center and the townspeople

become angry with Hercules. They call him a “menace” and say that “he is too dangerous to be

around normal people.” (Clemens & Musker, 1997, 00:17:20) Amphitryon tries to take up for

Hercules, but it is too late. The pot maker exclaims, “you keep that freak away from me!” as the

entire crowd jeers. (Clemens & Musker, 1997, 00:17:32)

This is the first example of a social-psychological principle that we see. Group

polarization refers to the tendency for group decisions to be more extreme than those made by

individuals (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019) Also, group discussion tends to make the

views of the group more and more radical. According to this phenomenon, if the townspeople

were to respond as individuals to the mistake made by Hercules, they probably would have less

radical views. However, since the group as a whole is mad at Hercules, and the group consensus

is that he is a “freak” and should stay away and all of the townspeople taunt him.

Back at the farm that night, Amphitryon tells Hercules not to worry about what the

townspeople said, but Hercules feels that they are right- that he is a freak and “doesn’t belong

here” or should be somewhere else. (Clemens & Musker, 1997, 00:18:10) Here, Hercules is

experiencing reflected-self appraisals. The term reflected self-appraisals, also known as the
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“looking glass self”, refers to the notion that we understand ourselves partly by imagining what

others think about us. (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019) For example, if I told a joke

and my friends laughed at it, I might perceive myself as funny. Hercules is told multiple times

that he is a freak and treated as an outcast, therefore he perceives himself as a freak and believes

that he “doesn’t belong”.

Humans often feel the need to belong, as Hercules does in this scene. Our nature as

humans is very social, and we have a need to be involved in healthy relationships with others.

We often use romantic relationships or close friendships to fill this need. Data shows that

mortality rates, suicide rates, and crime rates are higher for divorced and single individuals.

Other research shows that strong social relationships increase odds of survival in a fashion

comparable to stopping smoking or being at a healthy weight. There is overwhelming evidence

to suggest that social relationships greatly affect psychological and physical well-being.

(Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019) What Hercules is experiencing is not just a desire, but

a biological need to belong.

Amphityron and Alcemene reveal to Hercules that they are not his true parents- that they

found him as a baby, donned with a necklace which was marked by the symbol of the gods.

Hercules decides to go to the Temple of Zeus to ask for answers. He leaves the only parents he’s

ever known with a heartfelt goodbye. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

When Hercules arrives at the temple, he is startled when the statue of Zeus comes to life

and reveals that he is Hercules’ father. (Clemens & Musker, 1997) Zeus explains to Hercules the

whole story- that Zeus and Hera loved him very much, but that he was kidnapped and stripped of

his godhood, and that they have watched him grow from afar since only gods are allowed on
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Mount Olympus. Zeus also reveals that Hercules could earn back his godhood by proving

himself a true hero, and that he should start by seeking out Philoctetes. He also reunites Hercules

with Pegasus, a winged horse who was a gift to Hercules as an infant, to help him on his journey.

After some searching, Hercules finds Philoctetes (Phil for short) who is reluctant to train

him. Phil has retired from the hero-training business because all of his trainees have failed to

become true heroes and earn a constellation in the sky. Hercules pleads with Phil to come out of

retirement, but it takes some lightning-strike related convincing from Zeus for Phil to finally

agree. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

This is a perfect example of obedience to authority, which is a form of social influence.

Social influence refers to all the different ways that people can influence each other, such as

changes in attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and behavior. These changes may result from the

comments, actions, or just the presence of others. There are three types of social influence:

conformity, which refers to a change in one’s behavior based on real or imagined pressure from

others, compliance, which refers a favorable response to a request from another person, and

obedience. Obedience is the submission to demands of a person who is perceived to have greater

power or authority. (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019) In this case, Phil shows obedience

to authority when he is struck with a bolt of lightning by Zeus after turning town Hercules’

request.

After intense training, Hercules, Pegasus, and Phil take off to Thebes, which is known to

be the city of turmoil and a perfect place for a hero-in-training to build up his reputation. While

en route, they hear a woman’s screams, and race to save the damsel in distress. They find a

beautiful young woman, Megara (or Meg, for short) who seems to be on the losing side of a face-
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off with a centaur. Hercules now has his first opportunity to fight a monster and show off his

training. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

Though it wasn’t an easy fight, Hercules defeats the centaur and introduces himself to

Meg. Hercules offers Meg a ride with him and Pegasus to Thebes, but instead they go their

separate ways. It is then revealed that Meg is a servant of Hades. During their conversation,

Hercules’ name comes up and Hades realizes that Pain and Panic failed him all those years ago,

and that Hercules could foil his plan for world domination. Hades hatches a new scheme to take

down Hercules using Meg. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

Hercules arrives in Thebes and announces that he is a hero there to save them, but the

locals are doubtful of him. All of a sudden, Meg appears begging for Hercules’ help. She says

that two boys were playing in a gorge and are now trapped beneath a boulder. Hercules lifts the

enormous rock releasing Pain and Panic, who are disguised as two young boys. Hercules also

unknowingly releases the hydra, a giant multiple-headed serpent, from the gorge as Hades

watches over. To Hades’ discontent, Hercules defeats the hydra. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

Hercules goes on to defeat many other monsters and beasts sent by Hades. His fame and

fortune grow, and he becomes the most famous person in Greece. The people who once despised

him now adore him. (Clemens & Musker, 1997) This is a perfect illustration of social identity

theory, which is the idea that people’s self-concept and self-esteem can be influenced by the

status and accomplishments of different groups to which the person identifies with. They “bask

in the reflected glory” of their group, meaning that they take pride in the group’s

accomplishments. (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019)

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This may remind you of “bandwagon fans” in sports. They root for “their” sports team,

wear the merchandise, and bring their team up in conversation- but only during winning seasons.

Hercules went from “Zero to Hero”- there’s a whole song dedicated to this transformation.

(Clemens & Musker, 1997, 00:49:10) When he was a “zero”, nobody wanted to be associated

with him. However, when he became a “hero”, all the people of Greece identified themselves

with Hercules and “basked in his reflected glory”. Even Pain and Panic, Hades’ little minions,

could be seen using Hercules’ merchandise.

Hades is infuriated and running out of options. He sends Meg, who is growing more and

more fond of Hercules, on a mission to find out if the hero has any weaknesses. She refuses until

Hades makes her an offer she can’t refuse- the key to bringing down Hercules, in exchange for

her freedom. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

Meg convinces Hercules to take a day off from training and they spend the entire day

together. When they return to Thebes, Meg seductively questions Hercules about whether or not

he has any weaknesses only to find out he’s “fit as a fiddle”. (Clemens & Musker, 1997,

00:58:57) Meg becomes sidetracked from her mission when Hercules confesses his feelings for

her. She realizes that she is in love with him too and refuses to help Hades with his plan.

Meg had no interest in Hercules at first, even teasing him and calling him “wonder boy.”

(Clemens & Musker, 1997, 00:35:44) However, the more time that she spent with him, the more

that she liked him and eventually grew to love him. Recent research shows that proximity is

important in terms of who may become friends or lovers. Furthermore, the mere exposure effects

states that the more time you spend with something or someone, the more you like them, which

seems to be the case with Meg and Hercules. (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019)
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Hades comes to see what information Meg got out of Hercules, and she snidely tells

Hades, “You can’t beat him! He has no weaknesses.” (Clemens & Musker, 1997, 01:05:05) But

Hades realizes that Hercules does have one weakness: the woman he loves, Meg.

Meg and Hercules have fallen in love with each other. There are three main categories of

love: companionate love, which we share with friends and family who we enjoy spending time

with; compassionate love, which a bond in which one cares for and prioritizes another’s needs,

such as how a mother cares for her child or a married couple take care of each other; and

romantic love, which Hercules and Meg are experiencing. Romantic love is associated with

intense emotion as well as desire. Early on in relationships, partners often experience this type of

love in an intense and powerful way, as shown by Hercules and Meg. (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen,

& Nisbett, 2019)

Hades now knows Hercules’ one weakness. That night- the eve of the planetary

alignment that could allow Hades to release the Titans, defeat Zeus, and take over the world-

Hades pays Hercules a visit. Hades shows Hercules that he has taken Meg hostage and will only

free her if Hercules promises to surrender his superhuman strength for one day. Hercules agrees,

but only on the condition that Meg is safe from any harm. Hades strips Hercules of his strength,

and then reveals that Meg had been working for him, implying that she never loved Hercules at

all. Hercules is left weak and powerless with a broken heart. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

With Hercules incapacitated, Hades releases the Titans and sends them to Olympus to

capture the gods and defeat Zeus- except for one. Hades sends one of the Titans, a cyclops, to

Thebes to kill Hercules. Meg begs Hercules to hide from the giant; without his strength, he will

surely be killed, but Hercules faces the monster anyway. “Flea!” exclaims the cyclops as he
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laughs and subdues Hercules, thrashing him around like a cat playing with its prey. (Clemens &

Musker, 1997, 01:15:15)

In this scene, we see dehumanization, which goes hand in hand with aggression.

Dehumanization is the labeling a person or outgroup as having non-human characteristics.

Dehumanization can become dangerous because it is a lot easier to justify aggression or violence

if we believe the person or outgroup targeted is less than human, or unlike ourselves. There are

countless examples in history of how dehumanization can lead to tragedy. Millions of Jews were

murdered during the Holocaust because they were seen as inferior, and were referred to as rats

by the Nazi regime. During the Rwandan genocide, the Hutus referred to the Tutsis as

cockroaches. (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019) Here, we see a similar theme, where the

cyclops compares Hercules to a flea- something that is a pest; something less than human.

Hercules is just about to give up when Phil gives him words of encouragement. He is

without his strength but instead uses his smarts to trip the cyclops over the side of a cliff. In the

process, a pillar collapses and nearly falls on Hercules, but Meg pushes him out of the way and is

crushed under the giant pillar. Hades promise that Meg would stay safe is broken, and Hercules

regains his strength. He uses his strength to lift the pillar off of Meg, who is seriously injured.

Despite her extensive injuries, Meg insists that Hercules has no time to lose. Phil promises to

take care of Meg, and Hercules and Pegasus make their way toward Mount Olympus, where all

of the Gods have been taken captive by the Titans. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

Hercules uses his renewed strength to free all the gods who Hades had taken captive,

killed the Titans, and sent Hades back to the underworld. Things seemed to be on the mend, until
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Hercules returns to Thebes where he finds that Meg has succumbed to her injuries. (Clemens &

Musker, 1997)

Hercules travels to the underworld and makes a deal with Hades- his soul in trade for

Meg’s. This is an example of compassionate love- Hercules puts Meg’s needs ahead of his own,

even willing to give up his life. (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019) Hercules leaps into

the Styx river, where the souls of the dead reside, to retrieve Meg’s soul, but Hades fails to

mention that the water in the river will kill Hercules before he can ever reach Meg. The Fates go

to cut the thread of Hercules, which is symbolic for death, but the thread won’t cut. (Clemens &

Musker, 1997)

Hercules’ willingness to sacrifice himself to save Meg has proved him a true hero,

restoring his godhood and making him immortal. He emerges from the Styx with Meg’s soul and

pushes Hades into the water. Meg is brought back to life, and they are both summoned to Mount

Olympus. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)

Zeus and Hera welcome Hercules home, telling him that he became a true hero not

because of his strength, but rather through the strength of his heart. Everyone congratulates

Hercules while Meg watches on from a distance. She is happy for Hercules but knows that they

can no longer be together because he is now immortal, and she is not. (Clemens & Musker,

1997)

Hercules surprises both Meg and his parents when he chooses to remain on Earth with

Meg rather than join the gods on Mount Olympus. The movie closes with a classic Disney happy

ending: Hercules, Meg, Pegasus, and Phil watch on as Zeus creates a constellation in the sky in

honor of Hercules- the mark of a true hero. (Clemens & Musker, 1997)
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The first time that I watched the movie, I was concerned about how I was going to make

connections between psychological phenomena that we experience as humans and a

mythological hero. As I continued to watch the movie over again, I noticed more and more links

between concepts learned in class and events in the movie- things that most of us experience in

our everyday lives. Overall, this was a great movie and made good for a social-psychological

analysis, and I am glad that I picked it.

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References

Clemens, R., & Musker, J. (Director). (1997). Hercules [Film]. Walt Disney Studios.

Gilovich, T., Keltner, D., Chen, S., & Nisbett, R. E. (2019). Social psychology. W.W. Norton et

Company.

Mark, J. J. (2014, July 23). The Life of Hercules in Myth & Legend. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved

from https://www.ancient.eu/article/733/the-life-of-hercules-in-myth--legend/